Naruto Turns 13!
by ilovesoccer13
Summary: Naruto has his thirteenth birthday party, and the whole gang is there! Includes romance, but is not really directed towards any specific couple, although the main one is Gaara/Sakura. Sasuke fans will most likely not like, same goes for Rock Lee fans!


Sakura slunk home, tired from her long day of training with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sakura! Sakura!" she heard someone shouting from behind her, and from the voice and the quick footsteps, she could tell who it was.

"Naruto!" Sakura said aggravatingly. "What do you want now?"

"Hee hee hee," Naruto laughed awkwardly at the annoyed look on her face, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Um...here," he told her, thrusting his arm out towards her. It had a small square piece of paper in it. "You left before I could give it to you at training. It's...uh...well, I'm turning thirteen, and I thought maybe you'd come to my party." He gave her a hopeful look. Sakura looked down at the invitation, scanning it quickly. Her face softened.

"Sure Naruto, I'll come."

Naruto's face lit up. "Great! See you there! And remember, the party's tomorrow!" He shouted back to her as he ran in the opposite direction. He was almost out of sight when Sakura remembered something.

"Wait, Naruto! Will Sasuke be there?" she exclaimed after him. Naruto didn't look back at her.

"He must not have heard me," Sakura thought to herself, resuming the walk to her home. "I wonder who would be there, though. Knowing Naruto, probably every kid he knows will be there." Sakura gasped. "There's no way Naruto would be crazy enough to invite..."

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"Gaara! Temari! Kankuro! Welcome!" Naruto said, ushering the Sand Ninja inside.

"What do you think you're doing, inviting them?" Sakura hissed in his ear. "Are you insane?" All three of them have tried to kill us, and Gaara has Shikaku inside of him! He could kill us all!"

"Calm down, Sakura. We're all here to have fun! Right guys?" Naruto exclaimed to the three Sand shinobi.

"Heck yeah!" Kankuro said, high-fiving Naruto and shooting a look at Sakura. "Hey, how many girls did you invite, exactly?" Sakura heard Kankuro whisper to Naruto.

"Enough, my man, enough." Naruto replied. "Believe it!"

Kankuro gave him a wide smile and stalked in with his chest puffed out. "Since when did he and Naruto become such good friends?" Sakura thought.

"So, how 'bout you guys? Ready to par-tay?" Naruto asked Gaara and Temari. Temari pushed past him and into the living room, where everyone else was. Gaara stared blankly at him before following Temari. As he walked by them, he met Sakura's gaze calmly.

"Is he planning something?" Sakura thought to herself. Gaara brushed by them and went into the living room, slowly sitting down next to Temari. Kankuro sat on the floor miserably, sporting a bump on his head, most likely from Ino or Tenten. Sakura scanned the rest of the room. Everyone else was sitting with their teams. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba were the first ones Sakura spotted. Next to them were Ino and Choji, who were talking, and Shikamaru, who was sleeping. Rock Lee was saying something, but nobody was listening, and next to him Neji and Tenten sat quietly. Tenten was glaring at Kankuro. Sitting by himself on a chair was...

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, running to him. "I knew you'd come!" Embarrassed beads of sweat went down the back of everyone's heads except for the Sand ninjas, and of course, Ino, who was shooting daggers at Sakura.

Sasuke looked up at Sakura, grudgingly making room for her on the chair. Instead, she plopped down happily on his lap. Sasuke sighed. Ino hopped up angrily. "Get off of him!" she exclaimed. Sakura hopped up, facing Ino angrily. Both of their faces were red and steam was coming out of their ears.

"Girls, girls!" Naruto walked into the room. "Calm down, it's time to play our first game!"

Sakura huffed, sitting down on the ground beside Kankuro. He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, so she gritted her teeth and slid away nervously. Ino sat back down on her couch with Choji and Shikamaru. Shikamaru woke up instantly.

"Where am I?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Glad you're awake, Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed, ignoring Shikamaru's question. "Let's play...Truth or Dare!"

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Naruto set everyone up in a circle. Neji sighed annoyingly. "Must we do this every time I go to a party?" he asked.

"Of course! It's not every day a boy turns thirteen!" Rock Lee shouted.

"Shut up you gay faggot, yes it is," Temari told him. Rock Lee shut up.

"OK, who wants to go first!" Naruto asked happily, oblivious to everything around him.

"I will!" Ino shouted. "Sasuke, truth or dare!"

"Truth," Sasuke said boredly.

"OK, is it true that you like someone in this room?" Ino asked, awaiting the answer with baited breath.

Sasuke's eyes flickered over to his left, where Naruto and Rock Lee were sitting. "Maybe."

Ino and Sakura gasped. "Who?" they asked simultaneously, before shooting each other glares.

"Only one question at a time," Tenten reminded them.

"Kankuro, truth or dare?" Sasuke asked.

"Dare," Kankuro said with a grin. "

I dare you to switch pants with...Tenten," Sasuke said with a small smile.

Kankuro smirked. "Gladly," He got up and grabbed Tenten's wrist, pulling her up forcefully. "C'mon Tenten, let's go change in the bathroom...together..."

Tenten gave Sasuke a desperate look as Kankuro pulled her down the hall.

"Wait!" Sasuke shouted, taking pity on her. "Tenten will change in the bathroom. You, however, can change out here...in front of everybody." He shot Tenten a grin and then licked his lips. Kankuro's smile had already disappeared, and he released Tenten, who practically skipped to the bathroom. Kankuro walked back over to them and slowly began pulling down his pants.

"I don't need to see this," Gaara spoke for the first time, covering his eyes.

Meanwhile, everyone else kept their eyes open. Kankuro finally got his pants off. There was an awkward silence.

"Batman boxers!" Kiba cried out after a moment, and the whole circle of people began to laugh. Kankuro glared at them, embarrassed. Gaara opened his eyes and even managed a small smile. Kankuro stomped to the bathroom, opening the door a crack and handing his pants to a hand that stuck out from behind the door, and received Tenten's pants in return. He pulled them up, and when he finally got them all the way up they hardly went to his ankles, making the shinobi laugh again. The bathroom door finally opened and Tenten came out with Kankuro's pants on.

"How do I look?" she said, doing a dramatic twirl for them. Kankuro's pants were way too long, and Tenten tripped over them and landed face-first on the carpet mid-twirl.

"Smoooooth," Shino said. Everyone else started laughing again except for Gaara, who had returned to his stone-faced self.

"Alright, your turn Kankuro! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hmm..." Kankuro scanned the circle. "Ino, truth or dare,"

"Dare, no...wait...truth!" Ino exclaimed frighteningly, realizing her mistake at the last second.

"Too late!" Kankuro said with a smirk. "I dare you to kiss me, no, I'll do all the guys here a favor, kiss all of us guys on the lips!"

Ino grinned. "I get to kiss Sasuke!" Ino exclaimed happily. Sakura was shaking with anger.

"Cough-slut-cough," Temari "coughed". Ino ignored her, starting at Kankuro and going right around the circle. She pecked Kankuro, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji on the lips before she got to Sasuke. Ino kissed him, and pretty soon she forced him into a full-out make out session. Sasuke was sputtering against her lips, trying to push her off him. The others stared at them disgustingly, with Tenten restraining Sakura. It was like watching a train wreck; it was so horrible you couldn't tear your eyes away. Finally Ino relented, letting Sasuke catch his breath. He wiped the slobber off his face. Ino gave him what she thought was seductive look, before heading over to Rock Lee and Naruto. Sasuke shivered disgustingly. They suffered through it, and Ino moved on to Gaara, sitting on her knees in front of him. He stared into her eyes coldly. Ino shrugged and leaned in to kiss him anyway, closing her eyes in the process. She earned a face full of sand. Her eyes shot open to see Gaara's sand shield blocking the way. Ino sputtered, spitting the sand out of her mouth. Gaara's expression didn't change. Ino turned to Kankuro uncertainly. Kankuro looked back at Gaara.

"It's ok Ino, don't kiss him," Kankuro said. Ino shrugged again and returned to her seat. There was an awkward silence.

"Sakura, truth or dare," Ino smirked.

"Dare!" Sakura exclaimed, hopping to her feet.

"Give me everything you've got Ino! I can take it!" Sakura thought, her eyes gleaming.

"OK, I dare you to...jump off a cliff into a pit of fire filled with spikes, and if you manage to survive that, then go fight Orochimaru to the death, and if you survive that, you have to take us all on at once, and if you survive that..."

"O-KAY, that's enough of that!" Naruto interrupted cheerfully. "Let's play Guitar Hero!" Everyone turned to look at him.

Neji sighed. "This is the lamest party ever,"

"Yeah, it's such a drag..." Shikamaru agreed.

Naruto looked hurt. "C'mon you guys, I promise it'll be fun! By the end of this party, everyone will be happy! You can play first Neji! In fact, let's have a tournament!"

Neji and Kiba played first. "I have this game at home! Let's play Raining Blood on expert!" Kiba exclaimed. Neji sighed. The song started. Neji got through 11 percent before failing. "Aw, come on, this is easy!" Kiba told him, who had 100 percent of the notes correct.

"I was destined to lose this match," Neji said, turning his byakugan on and speaking in a serious voice.

"Bull shit, you just suck at Guitar Hero," Temari swore. Everyone but Gaara laughed. Neji turned his byakugan off and stomped huffily away. Temari noticed Gaara wasn't smiling. He stood next to her, looking straight ahead with his arms folded. "C'mon Gaara, have some fun," Temari said, elbowing him in the side. He didn't reply.

After thirty minutes of Guitar Hero, nobody could beat Kiba. Choji had come the closest, and behind him was Sasuke, who was only doing so well because of his Sharingan.

"Alright, anyone else want to try?" Kiba asked, holding up the second guitar. Nobody replied for a moment.

"I will." Everyone turned to see Gaara, the only one who hadn't played yet, step up next to Kiba.

Kiba looked surprised, but then his expression changed to determined. "Alright then, let's go, sand boy," he shoved the guitar into Gaara playfully, who took it. "Any requests?" Kiba asked.

"Through the Fire and Flames, expert," Gaara replied calmly. Kiba froze.

"The hardest song in the game..." Kiba whispered. Dude, you can seriously play that?" Gaara nodded.

"Prove it," Kiba said, giving Gaara the first guitar after changing it to one player. Gaara selected the song, and everyone watched as it started on expert. Gaara's fingers moved so fast that nobody could see them, but what they could see was that he was hitting EVERY NOTE. At the end of the song, Gaara's score popped up. Everyone stared in silence at the screen: a perfect score. Gaara put the guitar down.

"What now?" he asked Naruto, who was looking at the screen with his jaw on the floor. He finally regained his composure and grinned.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven!"

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All fifteen shinobi returned to their previous circle. Naruto brought out a basket and put fifteen papers, each with one of their names on it. "We're gonna start out interesting," he said. "I'm gonna draw out three names, and all three people are gonna go in the closet! And...wait for it...the three people could be three girls, three boys, two girls and a guy..." Ino and Sakura shot each other looks, finally finding a solution they didn't mind. "or two guys and a girl." Naruto finished. "And keep it PG-13, please," he added to Kankuro. Kankuro looked up at him innocently.

"Alright, let's do this, the first names are...Shino...Kiba...Hinata...whaddya know, a whole team together!" Naruto said, shooting the three shinobi a toothy grin. "Maybe you guys could get to know each other a little better, eh?" Kiba shook his head disgustedly and helped Hinata up. Shino following them into the closet.

**_In the closet:_**

Shino sat down at the far end of the closet while Kiba and Hinata stood together.

"Look, it's hard enough keeping you guys a secret, but there is absolutely no way I'm joining in or watching!" Shino exclaimed.

Kiba pecked Hinata on the lips. "Good, I don't want you kissing my girl anyway," Hinata giggled, and proceeded to makeout with Kiba for the next six minutes.

Shino banged on the wall and added in an occasional moan of, "Oh Kiba!" or "Oh Hinata!" for effect.

"Thanks...man," Kiba managed between kisses.

**_Outside_**

"Um, did Shino just say, 'Oh Kiba'?" Tenten asked.

"I think so..." Rock Lee replied.

**_In the closet_**

"No problem," Shino said, avoiding looking at them, knowing that at least one of them was probably topless by now. "Hopefully it's Kiba," Shino thought.

"One minute!" Naruto called from outside. Kiba and Hinata broke apart and Kiba (Shino sighed in relief) put his shirt back on. Shino ruffled up his hair and clothes and pinched his lips so they would look puffy. When the three of them came out a minute later, Shino fit right in. Hinata sat in between them so they didn't arouse suspicion.

Everyone gave them wide-eyed looks. "I never thought Hinata was into stuff like that," Shikamaru thought. Naruto put all three names back in the basket and started rummaging around.

"Wait, we can go twice?" Kiba asked.

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed. Kiba looked at Hinata nervously.

When nobody looked, he whispered in her ear, "Anyone does anything to you, they're dead." Hinata looked up at him and smiled.

Meanwhile, Naruto was lifting the first name out of the basket. "Naruto!" he exclaimed, reaching in for a second name. "Rock...Lee..." a bead of sweat dropped down the back of Naruto's head. He reached in for the third name. "Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. He looked like he was going to puke. Rock Lee didn't hide his excitement as he ran inside. Sasuke walked slowly in, and Temari pushed Naruto in after them.

**_In the closet_**

Naruto immediately went to the corner of the closet with Sasuke, avoiding Rock Lee. "Alright, it's two against one, right Sasuke? We can fight off Rock Lee if he tries anything..." Naruto trailed off. Rock Lee and Sasuke were closing in on him, and they both had weird looks on their faces. "Guys..." Naruto said nervously. They were getting closer.

**_Outside_**

"Hear anything?" Sakura asked Kankuro, who had his ear pressed against the door.

"Not really..." Suddenly a loud scream came from in the closet, and Kankuro was knocked on his butt when the door flew open and Naruto came bursting out, spitting everywhere and wiping his mouth.

"Naruto! Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"They...they..." Naruto stuttered, pointing back in the closet at Sasuke and Rock Lee, who were making out in the closet. "THEY KISSED ME!" Naruto hid behind Sakura, shaking, while Shikamaru and Choji pulled the other two boys apart. Sakura and Ino stared at Sasuke blankly.

"Didn't see that coming," Shino commented.

When order was restored and Sasuke and Rock Lee came out of the closet, both figuratively and literally, Naruto, somewhat shaken, put the names back in the basket and continued the game.

"Temari...Shikamaru...Ino," Naruto read. They all got up and headed to the closet. After coming to terms with the fact that Sasuke was gay (which didn't take long), Ino was ready to get back out there. They each entered the closet.

**_In the closet_**

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Ino walked over to Shikamaru and ran her hands down his chest. "Hey Shikamaru," she said seductively. "I've always thought you were kinda..."

"Move out of the way," Temari said, shoving Ino out of the way with one hand and taking her place. Ino hit the wall and fell. "Girls like you can't handle...men...like him," Temari said, staring into Shikamaru's eyes as she said this. Shikamaru gulped. Temari leaned closer so her chest was pressed against him. She whispered in his ear, "However, women like me...can." Before Shikamaru could do anything, she pressed her lips to his. Ino watched as Shikamaru responded, mentally taking notes.

"Hmm...Temari sure knows what she's doing," Ino thought as Temari pulled Shikamaru's shirt off, not caring that Ino was watching.

Before things could get any farther, Naruto shouted, "Thirty seconds!" and Temari and Shikamaru had to hurry up and get themselves organized. Ino kept her head down when the three of them came out of the closet. It was obvious to the entire group that she hadn't done anything in the closet, because compared to Shikamaru and Temari, she looked ready to go to a formal dinner party. To Ino's surprise, nobody teased her, not even Sakura.

"They probably feel sorry for me," Ino thought. But she payed attention along with everyone else when Naruto drew out the next three names.

"Kankuro...Hinata...Gaara." Naruto called out.

One word repeated in Kiba's head. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," he thought. His girlfriend was going in the closet with Kankuro! Kiba stood up quickly. Everyone looked at him. Kiba forced a smile and tried to make himself look normal. "Hey, before Gaara goes in that closet, can I ask him something about guitar hero?"

Naruto looked strangely at him. "Sure...I guess." Everyone waited for Kiba to start speaking.

"Um...in private?" Kiba finished. Gaara followed Kiba into a different room.

"What is it?" Gaara asked coldly.

"It's supposed to be a secret, but um...I'm sort of...dating...Hinata."

Gaara's face was expressionless. Kiba continued.

"And...u-um, K-Kankuro, well...you...probably...have realized that..." Kiba finished weakly.

"I understand," Gaara lied. He walked away, leaving Kiba by himself.

"He...cares about her?" Gaara thought to himself as he walked into the closet behind Kankuro. "Maybe even...loves her?"

Gaara closed the door behind them and watched the scene unfold in front of him. Kankuro walked towards Hinata until Hinata backed until a wall. Kankuro put an arm on either side of her and said, "Hey Hinata." He grinned at her.

"H-hey K-Kankuro," Hinata stuttered, shrinking back like she wished she could melt into the wall. Kankuro's face moved closer to hers. Hinata had nowhere to go. Kankuro closed his eyes and moved in to kiss her. His face was a millimeter in front of her when he felt something brush against his skin, and it wasn't Hinata. Kankuro opened his eyes to see a thin sheet of sand in front of him, seperating him from Hinata. Kankuro turned to Gaara.

"What are you doing?" he asked Gaara.

Gaara looked at him, then frowned. "I don't know," he admitted. He started to bring the sand back to himself, but then he saw the fearful look in Hinata's eyes. "You can't kiss her," Gaara told his brother.

"What?" Kankuro asked. "Since when do you care?"

Gaara wasn't sure what the answer was, so he remained quiet.

"One minute!" Naruto shouted.

Kankuro frowned. "You ruined my fun," he said, leaving the closet. Gaara stood alone with Hinata, who looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"T-thank you," she said.

Gaara turned and left without a word.

Hinata followed him out and took her seat next to Kiba and Shino.

"Are you ok?" Kiba asked when the attention was off of Hinata.

"Yes, Kankuro d-didn't do a-anything," Hinata told him, still a little scared.

"Why not?"

Hinata just smiled shakily up at him. "Gaara," Kiba thought, looking across the circle at him. Gaara met his gaze. Kiba gave him a small nod. Gaara just stared at him blankly.

"Alright, this is the last one! Next we'll just go down to two people!" Naruto called. "Tenten...Neji...Choji! Your turn!" The three of them got up and went into the closet.

**_In the closet_**

Choji sat down as soon as they entered. "Hey, just so ya know, I'm not kissing anyone!" He said as he munched on a bag of chips. Neji and Tenten faced each other.

"Tenten..." Neji whispered, caressing her cheek. "I believe we were put in this closet for a reason. It is our destiny to be together," they stared in each others eyes. Choji looked back and forth between them. Suddenly Tenten let out a snicker. Neji started chuckling. Tenten started laughing harder until her face turned red, and so did Neji's. Pretty soon they were both rolling around on the floor, clutching their sides.

"Ah...Neji-kun, you crack me up," Tenten said, wiping her eyes. Neji laughed again, wiping the tears from his eyes too.

"For a second I thought you'd believe me," Neji said with a wide grin.

"For a second I did," Tenten replied with a matching grin. They both hugged and Tenten gave Neji a noogie, before Neji turned serious.

"You are truly the sibling I never had, Tenten," Neji told her.

"Likewise, my friend," Tenten said. They hugged again, and Tenten gave Neji a friendly kiss on the cheek. Then they turned to Choji. His jaw was on the ground. Choji finally recovered, shoving a chip in his mouth.

"That was...interesting," Choji told them. "Did you plan that?" Tenten and Neji chuckled.

"One minute!" Naruto called. After a minute more of talking, they all left the closet.

Everyone shot them curious looks, but none of them said anything about what had happened in the closet. "Let them wonder," Tenten thought.

"Alright, time to go to two people in the closet!" Naruto said, reaching into the basket.

"Wait!" Choji shouted. Everyone looked at him. "I'm hungry!" he said, shoving another chip into his mouth. Sakura's stomach grumbled loudly.

"Yeah, me too!" she exclaimed.

"Well...here we only have one thing...ramen!" Naruto exclaimed. Everyone groaned.

"Let's order pizza!" Kankuro exclaimed.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Fine..." he dialed the number and they all sat and talked as they waited for the pizza.

"This game is so stupid. I'm the only one who hasn't gone into the closet yet!" Sakura was saying to Neji. He raised his eyebrows.

"Sakura, at this point, do you really care? I mean, Sasuke's gay, so you won't get a kiss out of him," Neji told her.

"Yeah...I guess you're right. I guess I don't care if I go into the closet or not. I mean, if I do go, I won't mind, unless I have to go with Rock Lee or a girl, you know?"

"Yes, the same with me, except I don't want to go with a guy," Neji replied.

Sakura was quiet for a second. Suddenly she asked, "Neji, if you don't mind me asking, what did happen in that closet with you and Tenten? I know Choji wouldn't want a kiss, but what happened with you guys?"

Neji chuckled. "Tenten is like a sister to me. We played a trick on Choji at first. We would have kissed to make it more believable but we couldn't hold in our laughter. I told her it was 'our destiny to be in this closet together!'" Neji and Sakura laughed.

"Well, I think you and Tenten could have been cute together," Sakura said.

"Maybe. But she is my sister, and I her brother. Just like me and you, Sakura."

Red lines popped up under Sakura's eyes and a bead of sweat appeared on the back of her head. "Uh...yeah, like me and you, Neji."

Neji smiled and walked away.

Sakura stood alone, rubbing the back of her neck. Tenten walked up to her, smiling.

"ReeeeeJECTED," Tenten said with a smile. Sakura gave her a mock glare. "Sorry, Sakura, I couldn't help it," Tenten said.

Sakura's expression changed to gloomy. "I'm so used to liking Sasuke that I don't know what to do when I _don't _like him. Who am I supposed to like now?"

Tenten was quiet for a second. "Maybe you should just follow you heart. What do you think of, say...Naruto?" Tenten asked. Sakura looked at her like she had three heads.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well...I don't know, Naruto's your teammate like Sasuke, so I thought..."

"It's ok, Tenten. Naruto's like a brother to me, though, just like Neji is to you, though."

Tenten sighed. "Just...don't worry about it, Sakura. What's meant to be will happen." Tenten walked away, scratching her head. "I need a break from Neji," she thought.

"Pizza's here!" Naruto shouted, bringing in five large pizzas. "Two cheese, two pepperoni, and one with everything on it! Dig in!" Choji took one pizza for himself, and then the rest of the shinobi split the slices evenly. Sakura sat and talked with Neji and Tenten about destiny, while Naruto sat watching everyone while he ate. Ino and Hinata each ate with their teams, Rock Lee ate with Sasuke, Temari ate with Kankuro, and Gaara sat by himself. When they were done, Naruto shouted, "Now, back to the game! Since there are only two people, we're going to make the time longer! Each couple gets fifteen minutes instead! I know we all have more time, but please, once, again, try to keep it PG-13!" Naruto finished his little speech and drew into the basket.

Before he could read off the names, Shino said, "You do know there are only five girls and ten guys, right? Are you sure we want two guys in there alone?"

"Yes!" Sasuke and Rock Lee shouted, but Naruto shivered.

"Fine, we'll separate the boys and girls." He got another basket and this time drew one name from each. "Ino and Kankuro," They both hopped up eagerly and headed into the closet. Pretty soon many thumps and groans could be heard from inside the closet. Everyone stared at the door wide-eyed as the sounds continued.

"Aaah! Underage sex! It's poisoning my mind!" Choji shouted, clapping his hands over his ears.

Naruto rushed to the door, afraid of what he would see if he opened it. "I said keep it PG-13 in there!" Naruto shouted, but the sounds didn't cease. Naruto took a deep breath and wrenched the door open. Kankuro was hunched over next to Ino, and now Naruto could see what was causing the noises.

"Naruto, whoever lives here other than you has really stylish clothing!" Ino said, throwing another dress onto the pile Kankuro was holding. It landed on the top of the pile with a resounding thump, and Kankuro groaned, almost collapsing from all the weight he was carrying.

"OK, let's go," Naruto said, ushering Kankuro and Ino out.

"Thank...you..." Kankuro choked out when Naruto took the clothes from him.

"Ino, you can't have these," Naruto said, dumping the clothes back in the closet. Ino huffed, before sitting back down in the circle. Naruto returned to the baskets.

"OK, let's see...me and Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed. Kiba took in a sharp breath. He knew of Hinata's old feelings for Naruto.

"Why does it always have to be her?" Kiba asked himself, clapping a hand to his forehead. Hinata got up and walked over to Naruto, who was holding the door open for her.

"Ladies first!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's ok Naruto, you c-can go first," Hinata told him. He went in past her. Hinata grabbed the handle, pulling the door closer and closer to the wall. When Kiba could only see one of her eyes, Hinata looked up and met his gaze. Kiba could see the uncertainty in them. And then the door shut.

**_In the closet_**

Hinata and Naruto sat down next to each other in the closet.

"So...Hinata..." Naruto started, twiddling his thumbs. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't k-know N-Naruto. W-what do you w-want to do?"

"I..." Naruto looked her in the eyes. "I want to kiss you, Hinata."

Hinata looked back at him. His face was inching closer to hers. Hinata's mind raced. "What should I do?" she thought. When his face was millimeters from hers, Hinata put a hand on Naruto's shoulders to stop him.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her, confused. "I thought you liked me, Hinata. Everyone says so..."

Hinata let out a little laugh. "I'm really sorry Naruto, but I don't like you that way anymore."

Naruto was quiet. "I guess that's ok. I...kinda don't like you that way either. I just kinda wanted to kiss someone other than Sasuke for once, you know?" Naruto started laughing too. "It's cool, Hinata. I'm sorry I tried to take advantage of you."

"That's ok, Naruto." They were both quiet for a moment. Naruto finally broke the silence.

"Sooo...who do you like, Hinata?"

"Should I tell him?" Hinata thought. "Can you keep a secret?" Hinata asked.

"Sure I can! Believe it!"

"Same old Naruto..." Hinata thought with a smile. "Well, I actually have a boyfriend, and he's at this party," Hinata told him shyly.

"Really? Who is it!" Naruto shouted more than asked.

"Can you guess?" Hinata asked, enjoying Naruto's hyperness.

"Hmm..." Naruto thought back to earlier in the party. "Who did she go into the closet with? It's definitely not Kankuro...or Shino, he's just not her type..." And then it hit him. "I know it!" Naruto shouted. "That time in the closet, and when Kiba went to talk with Gaara privately, it's so obvious when you think about it!" Naruto paused for dramatic effect. Hinata looked at him with baited breath. "You're dating Gaara!" Hinata choked on the breath she had been holding.

"WHAT?" Hinata yelled uncharacteristically loudly.

"What? Was I wrong?" Naruto responded dumbly.

"I'm dating Kiba, Naruto."

"Oh..." Naruto laughed awkwardly.

"Well, that's a better choice anyway, I'm happy for you Hinata." Naruto told her.

"Thanks Naruto."

"One minute!" Tenten yelled.

Naruto and Hinata came out of the closet looking the same as they had when they came in. Kiba grinned widely at Hinata when she sat down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her in front of everyone and kissed her on the head. They all stared at Kiba and Hinata.

"I have an announcement!" Naruto shouted. Everyone looked up at him. "Kiba and Hinata are dating!" Everyone was silent for a second, and then Hinata and Kiba were assaulted with congratulations from everyone. They smiled and waved at the other thirteen shinobi awkwardly.

"So much for keeping a secret...oh well..." Hinata thought. Naruto finally moved on.

"Time to pick more names!" he said, putting each hand in a basket. "Sasuke and Rock Lee!" The entire circle groaned.

"How did one of their names get into the girl pile?" someone complained.

Sasuke and Rock Lee ran cheerfully into the closet and slammed the door, and the rest of them had to endure fifteen minutes of listening to Sasuke and Rock Lee make out. Finally their time was up, and Naruto was allowed to move on. "Tenten and Sakura!"

"What the hell, Naruto, you can't even separate the names right!" Sakura yelled.

After an awkward pause, Tenten and Sakura looked at each other.

"Er...I'm not..."

"Me neither..."

"OK, we're good then."

They both walked into the closet and closed the door.

"So..." Tenten started. "Decided on a guy here yet?"

"I don't know if I'm going to decide or not, but we could always just go through the guys for fun if you want," Sakura said. "We could even find one for you, too!"

"Sure," Tenten agreed. "You first though."

"OK...there's Sasuke, Naruto, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, Rock Lee, Kiba, Shino, Gaara, and Kankuro," Sakura listed.

"Wow, we hit the jackpot," Tenten said sarcastically. They both laughed.

"OK, so...Sasuke and Rock Lee are gay, Kiba's got Hinata, Kankuro's a perv, I don't like Naruto in that way, Shikamaru's got Temari, and Neji doesn't like me in that way...that leaves Choji, Shino, and Gaara." Sakura calculated.

"Somehow I don't think Choji will be interested," Tenten said.

"But neither will Gaara or Shino..." Sakura said.

"Well, then I guess we're back to square one."

"One minute!"

"...and we're out of time. I'm sure you'll figure it out Sakura."

"Mhmm..." Sakura said hopelessly.

They left the closet in time to see Naruto draw out two more names. "Sakura and Gaara!" The whole circle was silent. Tenten shot Sakura a look and took her place back in the circle as Gaara rose from his. They both entered the closet silently.

"Don't freak out..." Sakura told herself silently once she was alone with Gaara. She hated to admit it, but she was terrified of him.

"You're scared of me," Gaara said coldly. "I should have known. I never had any real friends. You're just like the rest of them. Pathetic fools with their stupid little feelings. They don't know anything. Feelings don't matter. Power and killing is all that matters. People call me a freak because I see the truth."

Sakura felt her anger building as he spoke. "Well, maybe if you weren't such a jerk, you'd have more friends!" she exclaimed. Gaara's eyes flashed, and the next thing she knew, Sakura was covered in sand. It was binding her tighter and tighter.

"Let me go...you...you...you freak!" Sakura shouted. Gaara looked at her and suddenly grabbed his head in pain. He felt himself going back in time to when he was just a little kid. The younger version of himself stood in the middle of a circle of kids. They all held baseballs in their hands.

"What are you doing?" Little Gaara sounded confused. "Don't you want to be my friends?"

"Nobody wants to be your friend, you freak," one of the kids said. They all threw the baseballs at him at once. His sand shield instantly blocked them all. The other kids stared wide-eyed.

"He's so creepy! We should get out of here!" Another said, and they all ran off, screaming. One turned around and shouted a curse back at Gaara, before running away laughing.

Gaara returned to the present to see Sakura staring at him.

"I'm so sorry, Gaara," she said. He glared up at her.

"How did you see that?" he asked angrily. She didn't say anything. "My sand...it must be connecting her to my mind...nobody is supposed to see that..." Gaara's sand released Sakura. She fell to the ground with a thump. Gaara decided to sit down too.

"Was that...you...as a kid?" Sakura asked. Gaara nodded.

"When I was a kid, everyone hated me. They all teased me, called me names. Occasionally I killed one. Other times I just injured them. There was only one person I thought loved me, and he blew himself up trying to kill me. My mother hated me. My name is a curse. My siblings are afraid of me. I have no one. No one."

Sakura listened patiently.

"Maybe if you were nicer you would have more friends, Gaara. All you've done is told me a little about yourself, and I like you more than I used to, you know."

"What's the point of being nicer? I live to kill. I kill to live. I have no other purpose. I am good at nothing else."

"You're good at Guitar Hero."

"I put the bot on when no one was looking. It automatically gets everything right."

"But...your fingers were moving so fast!"

"I faked it."

"...why?"

"It felt good. To have someone admire you for something other than your strength, it is...satisfying."

"See? If you were more social, you would get that feeling more often."

"Whatever..." Gaara paused for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"There is another feeling I have. It has mostly started today. I have never felt it before, at least not since I was very little. What could that feeling be?"

"Well, there are a lot of things that could be, Gaara. Uncertainty, nervousness, even love..."

"It was definitely a good feeling. I think it was love. I don't fully understand the concept of it. What exactly...is love?"

"Well, there are many different kinds of love, the love you can feel for your family, your friends, and then there's love you can feel for someone extra special, like a girlfriend or boyfriend."

"Like the love Kiba feels for Hinata?"

"Exactly. But they all make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!" Sakura hugged herself for emphasis. Suddenly she started laughing.

"What is so funny?"

"I'm sorry Gaara," Sakura said between laughs, "but I can't exactly see you as a warm and fuzzy inside kinda person."

Gaara smiled as he watched Sakura laugh. "I like your laugh," he blurted out.

Sakura blinked at him. "Thanks." They were both silent for a moment.

"What is wrong with me?" Gaara thought. "Why...why am I like this? This is...horrible...no, it isn't...this is the best I've ever felt in my life!"

Gaara got up and moved to sit next to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura," he said.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked, coming out of her own thoughts.

"How do you know you're in love with someone?"

"Well, like I said, you get that feeling around them."

"All the time?"

"All the time."

"And what do you do when you love someone?"

"Well, usually you tell them."

Gaara sat quietly next to Sakura, thinking. Suddenly he asked, "Hey, can I try something?"

"Like what?"

"Well, when I don't trust someone, my sand shield constantly comes up before they can touch me, like you saw with Ino. However, if I do trust you, you can touch me. Only my siblings have been able to do it. I want you to try to touch me, Sakura," Gaara held out his arm. Sakura looked up at him.

"What will happen if I can't? Will the sand hurt me?"

"No. It will just block you."

"OK...I guess I can try...here goes."

Gaara saw her finger move towards his arm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then slowly opened them. There was sand hovering around him, ready to defend him if a problem arose, but Sakura's finger was on his arm. He smiled up at her.

"See, Gaara? If you opened up to more people this could happen a lot more! You can feel the same way with other people that you do with me!"

"I doubt that..." Gaara said just as Naruto shouted out that they had one minute.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing..." Gaara said shyly.

Sakura smiled at him for a moment. Suddenly she leaned forward and pecked Gaara on the lips just as Naruto opened the door.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Nothing," Gaara heard himself saying shyly. He looked up at Sakura to see her leaning towards him. "Is she going to..." Gaara's thought ended when Sakura kissed him. Before he knew it, he had put his hands on her waist and he could feel her fingers running roughly through his hair.

"I've never felt better in my life!" Gaara thought as Naruto opened the door. "This is...amazing!" He felt the light from outside the closet shining on him, and Sakura pulled away. Gaara looked up to see Naruto and the other shinobi's jaws on the floor and looking at them with eyes one foot in diameter.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" someone shouted.

"Kiba!" Gaara heard Hinata exclaim. He stood up slowly, grabbing Sakura's hand and helping her up. Everyone watched them with the same expressions on their faces. Sakura and Gaara sat down next to each other in the circle, trying to act normal. Naruto recovered first by slapping himself across the face, and slowly, everyone else came back to life. Choji was last, frozen mid-chew. Ino slapped him silly, and he finally woke up from his in-shock state.

"What...just happened?" Neji asked slowly.

Gaara and Sakura smiled. "This!" Sakura said, before shoving Gaara on the ground and climbing on top of him. She pressed her lips to his and eventually they were making out on the floor.

"Alright Gaara! Get some!" Kankuro shouted, raising a fist in the air.

Gaara managed a laugh through the kisses. Finally Temari pulled Sakura off Gaara. Sakura immediately went into pout mode until Gaara got up and she sat on his lap.

"This...is...so...weird," Shino said, staring at them.

Show tunes came on in the background and Rock Lee and Sasuke stood up, each of them putting on a random hat and canes in their hands.

Sasuke and Rock Lee started dancing in the middle of the circle, side by side.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaybeeee that's caaaaauseeeeee..." they sang slowly. Then the music sped up. "Thiiiis is a dreeam!" Rock Lee sang. Sasuke did backup as they continued their dancing. "This is dream (Oh Yeah!) This is a dream (Oh Yeah!) This this this this this is a dream!" They approached Naruto slowly and sang in deep voices. "You are dreaamiiiinnggg..." The music stopped the background. Everyone was silent.

"What the hell?" Temari said. "You guys are so (beep beep beep beep beep beep)"

"What the heck?" Naruto asked, looking over at Temari, who was making weird beeping sounds.

"Naruto, wake up!" Sakura said to him. Suddenly Tenten got up and stuck him in the stomach with a tazor. Naruto started shaking.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed, scaring the crap out of Sakura, who was shaking him awake.

"Wake up sleepyhead! Don't you remember?" she shouted.

"What?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I can't believe you forgot, Naruto!"

"WHAT, Sakura, what did I forget?"

Sakura clapped a hand to her forehead. "Naruto, you idiot! It's your birthday today!"


End file.
